Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1887-02-24
"Should Critics Be Gentlemen?'


Mr.. Fawcett in the last number OF
Lippencon asks the question, Should
crit cs be gentlemenp and in his reply
attempts to prove not only that the
or tic should be a gentleman, but that,
being gentleman, he cannot be crit
c. He holds that neither author. pub
Usher, nor reader reaps any benefit
from the ubiquitous book reviewer, and
tn INKS the time will shortly be when
Olhello's occupation will be gone. But
even while he rails he cannot resist the
temptation of usurping that gentle
man function and criticising the critic.
There is much of merited severity in
Mr.. Fawcett's somewhat illogical IT,
raIe, and while we cannot agree with
h N that the remedy lies in the total
humiliation of the critic, for that were
to ann h late the human race, we give
iervent amen to the original PROPOSE
ton that only gentlemen should be
or tics. The Lounger. in the CRITIC,
after ridiculng Miss Cleveland's poem,
The Dilemma, at some length. says:
ii hope Mr.. Fawcett won't read what
have Just written. Such words about
the work of lady would 90 far to con-
and ungentlemanly race of critics
whom he scathes in the same magazine
in VIII Oh THE Dilemma" appears.
Mr.. Fawcet is very amusing when he
is angry; now and then he is amusing
even when he keeps his temper; the
only t me YOU can depend on his not
being amusing, is when he tries to be.
He takes life very seriously. and moth
ing in life so ser ously as himself, his
verses, and his stories. A review not
altogether laudable sets his teeth on
edge and sends a cold shivcr down his
back; really severe notice OF his
work offends him beyond the limits of
endurance This is the sort of critic
ism against which all persons with the
instinct of fair play protest. Ridicule
is not argument, nor is 1t criticism. A
crit csm should be honest, and, there
able but surely it need not descend 10
rudeness and injustice. No man or
woman who is capable of doing good
work should object to sincere though
adverse criticism but all REBEL when
the reviewers pen is welded only to
point a white SIN, and mangle the tale.
Miss Cleveland has suffered much from
this so-called criticism. While the fact
that she is woman and the sister Of
the man whom our nation most de-
lights TO honor should not entitle her
to more generous treatment at our
hands, il certainly should not preclude
her from fair and courteous treatment.
II her work is bad, size has no right to
expect fulsome praise, but she has
right To expect that the manner Of the
adverse criticism shall be digniiied and
gentlemanly. A man whose personal
ity is h .dden behind reviewers mask
has no more right 10 address Miss
Cleveland as Rose than he would in
personal interview, and yet the penny
a-liner whose keenest shaft is tipped
with this witticism would never dream
of Offering this indigsity in person. A
man may be incapable of writing a
poem. an essay, or story, and yet
possess the ability to discover merit, or
the lack of merit, in the work of
another, but boor has no more bust
ness in the columns of newspaper or
magazine than in a drawing-room, and
the time will come when such will be a
recognized fact. to the relief of the
public and the advantage of the author.
at takes more refinement of soul to
discover beauties than to detect flaws"
The Current, Chicago.